R EMEMBER I NG
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR R.
ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
M o n d ay, J a n u a ry 19, 2026
LOUISIANA MARATHON
ALL FoR RUN AND
RUN FOR ALL
$2.00X
U.S. Supreme Court weighs coastal case trial location Justices wonder about ripple effects from lawsuit
BY ALEX LUBBEN staff writer
ABOVE: Runners fill Fourth Street at the start of the Louisiana Marathon in Baton Rouge on Sunday. BELOW LEFT: Rhianwedd Prince-Weimer holds up the finish line after winning the Louisiana Marathon on Sunday. BELOW RIGHT: Jacob Plocher celebrates Sunday after winning the Louisiana Marathon, completing the race in about 2 hours, 28 minutes. sTAFF PHoTos By MICHAEL JoHNsoN
The U.S. Supreme Court waded into a landmark lawsuit last week that seeks to hold oil companies to account for allegedly damaging the Louisiana coastline, but the justices’ eventual ruling may not be as clear cut as either side hopes. A ruling in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish is expected by this summer. There are likely four distinct ways the ruling could play out following Jan. 12 oral arguments, according to attorneys involved in the case and law professors watching it. The high court is ruling not on the merits of the case itself, but on a jurisdictional question: whether the case belongs in federal or state court. That ruling will likely impact the 41 lawsuits that Baton Rouge law firm Talbot, Carmouche & Marcello have filed on behalf of coastal parishes against oil companies, each of Marcello which is seeking millions for damage to the coast. “I still think we are going to prevail,” said Vic Marcello, one of the attorneys for the parishes. “We have a strong case.” Chevron spokesperson Bill Turenne likewise said that the company “remains confident that a federal court is the proper forum for these cases.” The companies argue the cases belong in federal court, a venue seen as friendlier to their
ä see COASTAL, page 3A
Trump backs Letlow for Senate, scrambling race Cassidy, already facing four major challengers, says he’s not dropping out
BY TYLER BRIDGES staff writer
and is up for sale. Before that sale can go through, though, the Legislature has to approve it. This year’s legislative session runs from March 9 to June 1. “We’re not going to be able to renovate that building by August,” Ward said. The new school is part of a wave of public high schools preparing teenagers for careers in the production side of film and television, including postproduction, technical, craft and business jobs in the industry.
President Donald Trump’s endorsement Saturday night of U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow to be Louisiana’s next senator has dramatically shaken up a race where Sen. Bill Cassidy already had four major Republican challengers, political insiders said Sunday. Trump’s decision makes it likely that Letlow will formally enter the race in the coming Letlow days and adds to the headwinds that Cassidy was facing to win a third six-year term. For months, given the president’s dominant role in Republican politics, the biggest question in Louisiana politics has been whether Trump would endorse Letlow, one of Cassidy’s Trump already-announced challengers or stay neutral in the race. Letlow has been expected to get in only if Trump endorsed her. Trump’s decision indicates that he has not forgiven Cassidy for voting to convict the president
ä see FILM, page 4A
ä see LETLOW, page 4A
ä SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE LOUISIANA MARATHON. PAGE 6A
Film high school seeks home in Baton Rouge Academy prepares students for careers in TV, movie production
by Jan. 31,” said Fallon Buckner Ward, executive director of the Louisiana Academy of Production. The specialized high school originally was set BY CHARLES LUSSIER to settle at Celtic Studios, staff writer but more recently it had Ward A long-planned film school for Baton shifted to Baton Rouge Rouge teenagers is conducting a last- Community College’s Frazier campus as minute hunt for a place to hold classes its likely home. The 555 Julia St. propwhen it opens this fall. erty, 7 miles east of Celtic and just south “The goal is to have a solid location of downtown, was vacated a year ago
WEATHER HIGH 59 LOW 31 PAGE 12C
Classified .....................6C Deaths .........................7A Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3C-5C Living............................1C opinion ........................8A Commentary ................9A Metro ...........................6A sports ..........................1B
101sT yEAR, No. 203